Month: March 2022

Source: United States Department of Justice News

PHOENIX, Ariz. – Reyes Luis Holguin, 29, of Phoenix, Arizona, agreed this week to pay $6,103 in restitution to the family of a young mother whose life was taken by fentanyl she bought from Holguin in August 2019. In December 2021, U.S. District Judge Susan M. Brnovich sentenced Holguin to 10 years in prison, followed by five years of supervised release. Holguin previously pleaded guilty to Distribution of Fentanyl for selling the pills that led to the young woman’s death.

The victim communicated with Holguin via an online messaging application about the purchase of three “blues,” a common street term for fake prescription oxycodone pills that contain fentanyl. After consuming the pills, the victim overdosed and died. The victim was discovered the next morning by her mother. Holguin also sold 67 fentanyl pills to law enforcement and negotiated the future sale of an additional 100. At the time of his arrest, Holguin had a loaded firearm, more fake pills, and $2,285 in cash.

“These dangerous pills are flooding Arizona communities, and studies show that 40% contain a potentially lethal dose of fentanyl,” said U.S. Attorney Gary Restaino. “This sentence should serve as a  warning message to sellers, and as a reminder of the need for compassion and creative solutions in protecting Arizonans from these pills. We are grateful to our partners at DEA and Phoenix PD for their vigilance in fentanyl investigations and prosecutions.”

The U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration and the Phoenix Police Department conducted the investigation in this case. The United States Attorney’s Office, District of Arizona, Phoenix, handled the prosecution.

CASE NUMBER:            CR-19-01077-PHX-SMB
RELEASE NUMBER:    2022-031_Holguin

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For more information on the U.S. Attorney’s Office, District of Arizona, visit http://www.justice.gov/usao/az/
Follow the U.S. Attorney’s Office, District of Arizona, on Twitter @USAO_AZ for the latest news.

Source: United States Department of Justice News

SAN JUAN, P.R. – On March 23, 2022, the Federal Grand Jury in the District of Puerto Rico returned an indictment charging Fernando Gallardo-Álvarez and his consensual partner Olga Rivera-Dávila with a conspiracy to commit mail, wire, and bank fraud, aggravated identity theft, and money laundering violations related to fraudulently obtained funds from the Unemployment Insurance (UI) and Pandemic Unemployment Assistance (PUA) Program, announced W. Stephen Muldrow, U.S. Attorney for the District of Puerto Rico. The case was investigated by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), the United States Department of Labor Office of Inspector General (USDOL-OIG), U.S. Postal Inspector Service, Social Security Administration Office of Inspector General (SSA-OIG), the Puerto Rico Department of Labor (PRDL), and the Puerto Rico Police Bureau (PRPB).

According to the indictment, Fernando Gallardo-Álvarez and Olga Rivera-Dávila devised a conspiracy and scheme to defraud the United States and Puerto Rico’s state-federal Unemployment Insurance programs and financial institutions to obtain money for personal gain by making materially false and fraudulent representations to obtain and deposit UI/PUA funds.  The defendants used the social security numbers and names of others to fraudulently obtain UI/PUA funds and then proceeded to alter the fraudulently obtained checks to list the defendant’s own names and personal identifying information. These falsified checks were then deposited into multiple accounts under the defendants’ control. The defendants also concealed the proceeds of the fraud scheme and structured subsequent financial transactions.

In a separate indictment, Fernando Gallardo-Álvarez is charged with fraudulently submitting false immigration documentation, mail fraud, misuse of social security numbers, and aggravated identity theft.

From approximately 2017 through August 2021, defendant Gallardo-Álvarez unlawfully enriched himself and obtained money from individuals, by preparing and filing Violence Against Woman Act (VAWA) petitions with the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) containing false information using Form I-360 and accompanying forms for work authorization and fee waivers. Form I-360 is used by battered spouses, children, and parents to file an immigrant visa petition under the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA), as amended by the VAWA.

According to the indictment, Gallardo-Álvarez made false representations to non-citizens that he was an attorney and collected thousands of dollars for legal services to assist them in resolving their immigration status. After collecting payment, Gallardo-Álvarez would file VAWA petitions containing false and incomplete information without the petitioners’ knowledge and consent. Gallardo-Álvarez knew the petitions he submitted to the USCIS contained false information and that he could not provide the needed documentation for the USCIS to adjudicate the petitions filed.

When USCIS did not receive enough information to fully adjudicate a VAWA petition utilizing Form I-360 submitted by the defendant, USCIS would ask Gallardo-Álvarez, for more information before ultimately denying the VAWA petition. While the VAWA petition was pending, USCIS would make a preliminary determination regarding eligibility for an Employment Authorization Document (EAD card), i.e., work authorization.

The EAD cards obtained by Gallardo-Álvarez for his clients were only valid for one year and many petitioners returned to him before the year was over to refile their petitions. Gallardo-Álvarez would charge these petitioners thousands of U.S. dollars to submit Form I-360s and associated immigration applications.

USCIS records suggest that Gallardo-Álvarez has filed at least 136 fraudulent I-360 VAWA applications for over 100 petitioners within the last four years.

Assistant U.S. Attorneys (AUSA) Victor Acevedo and Manuel Muñiz Lorenzi are in charge of the prosecution of the PUA fraud case. If convicted, the defendants are facing up to 30 years in prison for bank fraud, 20 years for mail and wire fraud, and a mandatory consecutive term of two years in prison for aggravated identity theft.

AUSAs Daynelle Álvarez-Lora and Daniel Olinghouse are in charge of the prosecution of the immigration fraud case.  Gallardo-Álvarez is also facing up to 20 years in prison for mail fraud, up to 10 years for misuse of visa, up to five years for misuse of Social Security number, and a mandatory consecutive two-year term of prison for aggravated identity theft.

To report a COVID-19-related fraud scheme or suspicious activity, contact the National Center for Disaster Fraud (NCDF) by calling the NCDF Hotline at 1-866-720-5721 or via the NCDF Web Complaint Form at: https://www.justice.gov/disaster-fraud/ncdf-disaster-complaint-form

An indictment is merely an allegation and all defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.

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Source: United States Department of Justice News

GREAT FALLS – A Helena man who admitted lying in a scheme to receive more than $400,000 in Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loans guaranteed by the Small Business Administration (SBA) for coronavirus relief aid and using the money instead for personal benefit was sentenced on March 23 to one year and one day in prison, to be followed by three years of supervised release, U.S. Attorney Leif M. Johnson said.

Kasey Jones Wilson, 29, pleaded guilty in November 2021 to bank fraud and to engaging in monetary transactions in property derived from specified unlawful activity.

Chief U.S. District Judge Brian M. Morris presided. Chief Judge Morris also ordered $125,000 restitution.

“Wilson tried to line his own pockets at the expense of small businesses that needed this federal aid to help make payroll and cover other expenses during a deadly pandemic. Such fraudsters will be fully investigated and prosecuted. I want to thank Assistant U.S. Attorney Colin M. Rubich, IRS Criminal Investigation, the FBI and all of our law enforcement partners for their work on this case,” U.S. Attorney Johnson said.

“This sentencing is a victory for American citizens and the business owners the Paycheck Protection Program was designed to help,” said Andy Tsui, IRS Criminal Investigation Special Agent in Charge. “Through our partnership with the U.S. Attorney’s Office and our federal law enforcement partners, IRS Criminal Investigation agents will continue to aggressively pursue individuals who try to exploit federal relief programs for their personal gain.”

In court documents, the government alleged that on June 28, 2020, Wilson applied to Valley Bank of Helena for a Paycheck Protection Program loan seeking $416,400 on behalf of Step Above Management LLC, an entity he and codefendant, Trevor Lanius-McLeod, controlled. The loan was granted, and funds were sent to an account that Wilson controlled. Lanius-McLeod has pleaded guilty to charges and is pending sentencing.

The PPP program, which is part of the federal Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security (CARES) Act, provided emergency assistance to small businesses for job retention and certain other expenses.

Wilson and Lanius-McLeod made numerous false statements on the PPP loan application. Without the false statements, Wilson and Lanius-McLeod would not have qualified for a PPP loan. The defendants falsely stated that Step Above Management had paid payroll taxes and had 34 employees. The company never paid payroll taxes and had no employees besides Wilson and Lanius-McLeod. Wilson also represented on the loan application that he had not been convicted of a felony within the last five years, when he had been convicted of a felony in 2016.

The government further alleged that in a promissory note, the defendants agreed to use the funds for business-related expenses. None of the loan money was used for these purposes. Instead, the proceeds were spent on various personal expenses. Most of the loan funds went to Lanius-McLeod. Wilson purchased several cashier’s checks from Valley Bank of Helena payable to Lanius-McLeod.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Colin M. Rubich prosecuted the case, which was investigated by the IRS-Criminal Investigation and FBI, with assistance from the U.S. Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration and U.S. Secret Service.

On May 17, 2021, the Attorney General established the COVID-19 Fraud Enforcement Task Force to marshal the resources of the Department of Justice in partnership with agencies across government to enhance efforts to combat and prevent pandemic-related fraud. The Task Force bolsters efforts to investigate and prosecute the most culpable domestic and international criminal actors and assists agencies tasked with administering relief programs to prevent fraud by, among other methods, augmenting and incorporating existing coordination mechanisms, identifying resources and techniques to uncover fraudulent actors and their schemes, and sharing and harnessing information and insights gained from prior enforcement efforts. For more information on the Department’s response to the pandemic, please visit https://www.justice.gov/coronavirus.

Anyone with information about allegations of attempted fraud involving COVID-19 can report it by calling the Department of Justice’s National Center for Disaster Fraud (NCDF) Hotline at 866-720-5721 or via the NCDF Web Complaint Form at: https://www.justice.gov/disaster-fraud/ncdf-disaster-complaint-form.

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Source: United States Department of Justice News

PITTSBURGH, PA – A resident of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, has been sentenced in federal court to 46 months’ imprisonment followed by a six-year term of supervised release on his conviction of violating federal drug laws, United States Attorney Cindy K. Chung announced today.

United States District Judge William S. Stickman imposed the sentence on Henry Johnson, age 31, formerly of the City’s South Side Flats neighborhood.

According to information presented to the court, the Greater Pittsburgh Safe Streets Task Force, led by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, initiated an investigation primarily targeting the Darccide/Smash 44, or DS44, neighborhood gang, and drug-trafficking activity in and around the South Side area of Pittsburgh. As part of these large-scale narcotics and firearms investigation, from approximately February 2019 through June 2019, the United States received authorization to intercept communications on nine telephones as part of the investigation, including the phone belonging to lead defendant Christopher Highsmith. During the investigation, the United States intercepted Henry Johnson over the tapped phone line of Christopher Highsmith.

Between March and April 2019, physical surveillance and intercepted communications revealed that Highsmith supplied Johnson with controlled substances for distribution. Additionally, on December 6, 2018, law enforcement responded to reports of drug trafficking at a hotel in West Homestead. Upon arrival, law enforcement observed the defendant throw two bags from his hotel balcony onto the parking lot. The bags contained 17 bricks of a fentanyl and heroin mixture, approximately 12 grams of cocaine base, and approximately six grams of cocaine. Some of the bricks bore the same stamp as other bricks seized in the investigation into the defendant’s co-conspirators. A search of the defendant incident to his arrest resulted in the seizure of $693.00 and a cellular phone. The phone contained texts indicative of drug trafficking.

Prior to imposing sentence, Judge Stickman stated “The Court cannot highlight enough the impact that the trafficking of these substances has upon our community.”

Assistant United States Attorney Brendan J. McKenna and Carolyn Bloch prosecuted this case on behalf of the government.

The Federal Bureau of Investigation led the multi-agency investigation of this case, which also included the Bureau of Alcohol Tobacco Firearms and Explosives, Allegheny County Adult Probation, Allegheny County Police Department, Allegheny County Sheriff’s Office, Pennsylvania Attorney General’s Office Bureau of Narcotics, Pittsburgh Bureau of Police, and the Wilkinsburg Police Department. Other assisting agencies include the Green Tree Police Department, New York City Police Department, Mount Oliver Police Department, Pennsylvania State Police, Yonkers Police Department, United States Marshals Fugitive Task Force, and the United States Postal Inspection Service.

This prosecution is a result of an Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force (OCDETF) investigation. OCDETF identifies, disrupts, and dismantles high-level drug traffickers, money launderers, gangs, and transnational criminal organizations that threaten communities throughout the United States. OCDETF uses a prosecutor-led, intelligence-driven, multi-agency approach that leverages the strengths of federal, state, and local law enforcement agencies against criminal networks.

United States Attorney Chung commended the agencies for the investigation leading to the successful prosecution of Johnson.